The Adventure Zone: Graduation
| Podcast | |
|---|---|
| Title: | The Adventure Zone: Graduation |
| Created by: | The McElroy Brothers and Clint McElroy |
| Date(s): | 10/31/2019 - 4/15/2021 |
| Focus: | DnD actual-play |
| Fandom: | The Adventure Zone |
| External Links: | |
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The Adventure Zone: Graduation (often abbreviated as TAZ:Graduation or TAZ:G or simply Graduation) is the third longform campaign of The Adventure Zone podcast and the second played in Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition. It's an actual-play podcast with Travis McElroy acting as GM. The story follows three characters enrolled in the less prestigious, annex, sidekick program of Hieronymous Wiggenstaff's School for Heroism and Villainy.
Characters
- Sir Fitzroy Maplecourt, Knight in Absentia of the Realm of Goodcastle, a half-elf barbarian played by Griffin McElroy.
- Argo Keane, a water genasi rogue played by Clint McElroy.
- The Firbolg, a firbolg ranger played by Justin McElroy. As is typical for Firbolgs, he has no name, which becomes a running joke. Proposed names include Bud and Doctor Mushrooms.
Fandom
Finding works specific to Graduation can be difficult as it does not have a separate fandom tag from other Adventure Zone arcs on AO3, and on FF.net, all TAZ fics are under the umbrella "Radio Drama" fandom. As of September 2020, there is a filterable tag Campaign: Graduation (The Adventure Zone), but is not yet ubiquitous with less than a hundred fics under the tag and more than 200 tagged "Sir Fitzroy Maplecourt."
Fanart of Graduation characters varies widely, as the creators have specifically chosen to not give detailed character descriptions. Argo Keene, a water gensai, is often portrayed as blue skinned with darker blue hair, fin-like ears, and a blue mustache. The Firbolg character (commonly referred to as "Master Firbolg") is often portrayed at the tallest and broadest of the trio, sometimes with leaves, twigs, moss, and/or flowers in his hair. (Sir) Fitzroy Maplecourt is a half elf, usually wearing glasses, mostly with a peach to tan skin tone, with short hair of varying colors.
Controversy
While all arcs of TAZ have come under fire for various reasons, Graduation seems to be particularly prone to it. Criticism of Travis as GM got to the point where he issued a statement about it.[1] Common sentiments include that the campaign is railroaded and the NPCs are bad.
It has also come under fire for potential racist/colonialist themes.[3]
Example Fanworks
Animatics
- Nothing Left to Lose (Tangled)- TAZ G Animatic by 3sides1eye
- “He’s Gonna Lose” | TAZ Graduation ep.28 Animatic (MAJOR SPOILERS) by Lito Lopez
- Chud-Chud Bopsman - TAZ Graduation Animatic by Cosmine
Fanart
- what’s wrong with a little bit of chaos? 🌩️ by mcnuggyy
- ⚡️happy graduation, boys⚡️ by tantaliart
- Argo by erythaia
Fanfiction
References
- ^ Tweet Thread. Posted 13 Jan 2020. Accessed 20 Sept 2021.
- ^ Tweet from bunnarchist. Posted 29 Mar 2020. Accessed 20 Sept 2021.
- ^ TAZ: Colonization, or Open Letters to the Creators of TAZ Concerning Native-Coded Characters, from a Concerned Historian of Colonial American History. Posted 31 July 2020. Accessed 20 Sept 2021.
